Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana

mentally or physically disabled - are they allowed to inherit?

interesting question that perhaps no one else has asked before:

How binding is the language in a Trust? For instance, if a trust states that a beneficiary cannot be on government assistance due to a mental or physical disability to receive their portion of the inheritance, and is in fact receiving government disability payments, can that person still receive their portion of the inheritance?

If all the beneficiries agree that the disabled person does indeed deserve their portion, what, if any disagreement would there be? Would it be a family matter, or a state matter?

Thank you


Asked on 11/24/04, 4:46 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Mary Ann Wunder Wunder & Wunder

Re: mentally or physically disabled - are they allowed to inherit?

Questions on the interpretation of terms of a trust are properly addressed to the probate court in the county where the Settlor of the trust resided during his lifetime. There are generally reasons for restricting the monies to be paid to a disabled child or relative, as the money may well result in the disabled person's assistance to be discontinued until the monies are spent on his current care and/or the state will want to take the inheritance for the purpose of reimbursing itself for prior costs of care. You should consult with the attorney who drafted the trust as to the Settlor's reasons for the provisions in the trust before making a decision to override the trust. Agreements to terminate a trust early or make distributions outside those allowed by the trust are also questions that need to be answered in Probate Court.

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Answered on 11/29/04, 11:14 am


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